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Bangladesh: More Than 90 Killed, Several Injured as Student Protests Escalate

The Interior Ministry declared an indefinite nationwide curfew from 6 pm (1200 GMT), in the first such move since the protests started.

DW

The Interior Ministry declared an indefinite nationwide curfew from 6 pm (1200 GMT), in the first such move since the protests started.

bangladesh more than 90 killed several injured as student protests escalate

Representative image. Photo: X/@omarsuleiman504

New Delhi: At least 93 people, including 14 police officials, were killed across Bangladesh on Sunday (August 4) as student protesters clashed with activists from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League.

Sunday marked the first day of the non-cooperation movement announced by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement.

The Interior Ministry declared an indefinite nationwide curfew from 6 pm (1200 GMT), in the first such move since the protests started.

The demonstrations broke out in June against a controversial quota system for public sector recruitment, which the country's Supreme Court has now all but scrapped.

Students returned to the streets this week in huge numbers, in an all-out non-cooperation movement aimed at paralysing the government and demanding Hasina's resignation.

What happened on Sunday?

Large groups of protesters packed into Dhaka's central Shahbagh Square, with street battles erupting at multiple locations in the capital as well as in other cities, police said.

Protest organisers had urged people not to pay taxes and utility bills and not show up for work in a show of "non-cooperation" with the government.

Sunday is a working day in Bangladesh but many shops and banks in Dhaka stayed closed.

At one stage, thousands of protesters attacked a major public hospital in Dhaka's Shahbagh area, torching several vehicles, the police said.

A police officer, who asked not to be named, told the French AFP news agency that "the whole city has turned into a battleground."

In the capital's Uttara neighborhood, police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked a major highway.

At least 24 people were killed and dozens were injured across the country, according to a tally by DW based on hospital, police and local media sources.

The death toll included two people who were declared dead from their injuries on arrival at a hospital in Munshiganj district near Dhaka, a hospital official said.

The construction workers were killed during a three-way clash of protesters, police and activists from the ruling Awami League, witnesses said. Around 30 people were injured.

Four people were killed in clashes between ruling party activists and protesters in the northwestern Rangpur city.

Five people died when Awami League activists attacked protesters in the southeastern city of Feni, local media reported.

At least three people were killed and 50 hurt in the northeastern district of Pabna during a clash between protesters and Awami League activists, witnesses said.

Three more were killed when police opened fire on protesters in the northern district of Bogura, the Daily Star reported.

Two people were killed in the northern city of Kishioreganj, where protesters torched a ruling party office, police said.

Five people were killed — one each in the northwestern city of Sirajganj, as well as Magura — which is located in the southwest, Savar — near Dhaka, south-central Barishal, and Cumilla — which lies in the east, the newspaper said.

Why are protesters angry?

The student protests erupted nearly two months ago over a longstanding quota system for public sector jobs that favors descendants of ex-military personnel who fought for the country's independence from Pakistan in 1971, as well as other groups.

The government had shelved the quota system but a court challenge paved the way for it to be reintroduced until a ruling from the Supreme Court ordered the ex-military quota to be reduced from 30% to 5%.

The court ruled that 93% of jobs should be allocated on merit, with the remaining 2% set aside for minority groups.

The protests died down for several days, but have since turned into an anti-government movement, and students are now demanding justice for the victims of police brutality during the crackdown.

Over the past month, more than 200 people have been killed, thousands injured and about 10,000 arrested in connection with the protests.

Government critics, along with human rights groups, accuse Hasina's government of using excessive force to stamp out the movement, which it denies.

The unrest is the biggest test for Hasina since she won a fourth straight term in January elections boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The 76-year-old Hasina has ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist since 2009. She is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench her hold on power and stamp out dissent.

This article was originally published on DW.

Additional inputs from The Daily Star.

This article went live on August fourth, two thousand twenty four, at nine minutes past eight in the evening.

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